Superman: Legacy, DC Studios’ upcoming Superman movie reboot, is bound to be compared with the DCEU’s Superman series – but one character can set this new franchise apart from the previous one. The first DC Studios project announced by James Gunn, Superman: Legacy is set to premiere on July 11, 2025, bringing a new actor as the Man of Steel. Superman: Legacy won’t have any connections to Henry Cavill’s version of the character, and it will kick off the new DC Universe.
By the time Superman: Legacy hit theaters, Henry Cavill’s final appearance as the Man of Steel during Black Adam’s post-credits scene will have been almost three years ago. Still, Cavill was the movie version of Superman for almost a decade, starting his run in the Zack Snyder-directed Man of Steel (2013) and reprising his role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and Black Adam. Therefore, comparisons between James Gunn’s Superman reboot and the Snyderverse’s Man of Steel are going to be inevitable.
James Gunn’s Superman Reboot Needs Jimmy Olsen
Superman: Legacy can set itself apart from the Snyderverse’s Superman by incorporating a key Superman character that the DCEU overlooked – Jimmy Olsen. One of Clark Kent’s best friends in the comics, James Olsen is as important to Superman’s mythos as Lois Lane or the Daily Planet, yet he was never given too much attention on the big screen. Jimmy Olsen is often associated with the more lighthearted, sometimes comedic side of Superman’s lore, which poses a challenge when it comes to adapting the Man of Steel as a more grounded, serious character. That said, Jimmy Olsen can work perfectly fine in a Superman movie.
Given that Superman: Legacy will follow a younger Superman at an early stage of his career, the DCU Superman reboot is the perfect opportunity to incorporate the iconic photographer. According to James Gunn, Clark Kent will be working at the Daily Planet in Superman: Legacy, meaning that Superman’s supporting set of characters could include Jimmy Olsen. The DCEU adapted several Superman-related characters and storylines, including but not limited to General Zod’s invasion and the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday. As such, Superman: Legacy and the new DC Universe as a whole must focus on different sides of the Superman lore.
Why Zack Snyder Didn’t Use Jimmy Olsen In The DCEU
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition introduces a character who goes by James Olsen right at the beginning of the film. That character, however, was not actually James Olsen – he was a CIA agent who used the Daily Planet’s credentials to perform an undercover mission. Still, just the fact that Lois Lane did not know the real Jimmy Olsen of this universe confirmed that Snyder had no plans of using the character as Clark and Lois’ friend at the Daily Planet. During a fan screening of Batman v Superman, Snyder explained that the Jimmy Olsen namedrop was just a way to tease a larger DC world.
The Snyderverse’s plan for Superman was very much a Justice League story involving Darkseid, Apokolips, and time travel. In other words, there would probably not be much time to follow Clark Kent at Metropolis working at the Daily Planet after the first Justice League film as the story would ask more for Superman than for Clark. In addition, Man of Steel tried to redefine Superman for a new generation and introduced new story beats like Lois Lane finding out that Clark Kent was from another planet before they were even friends. It remains to be seen how Superman: Legacy will differ from the previous franchise.
